Metro previously pleaded guilty to criminal charges arising from his role in a long running insider trading scheme that involved trading in advance of more than a dozen pending corporate transactions. As part of this scheme, Metro provided material, nonpublic information relating to these transactions to a friend, Frank Tamayo, via napkins or post-it notes at Grand Central Terminal. Tamayo then passed the information to his stockbroker, Vladimir Eydelman. The illegal trading resulted in approximately $5.6 million in profits.

Both Tamayo and Eydelman previously entered into settlements with the SEC in connection with this scheme. The SEC's complaint alleged that after receiving the tips from Metro, Tamayo typically met Eydelman near the clock at the information booth at Grand Central Terminal, and then chewed up or ate the post-it notes or napkins after using them to show Eydelman the ticker symbol of the company that would be acquired. The SEC alleged that Eydelman then returned to his office and typically gathered research about the target company, which he then emailed to Tamayo to create a false paper trail with a justification for the trading. >Eydelman then allegedly traded for himself, Tamayo, and other customers. Tamayo allegedly allocated a portion of his profits for eventual payment back to Metro in exchange for the inside information, and Metro also traded personally in advance of at least two deals.

Tamayo and Eydelman each pleaded guilty to their roles in connection with the scheme in September 2014 and September 2015, respectively. Tamayo and Eydelman have not yet been sentenced.

The SEC's investigation was conducted by Jason Burt and Carolyn Welshhans in the Enforcement Division's Market Abuse Unit with assistance from John Rymas, Mathew Wong, Daniel Koster, and Leigh Barrett. The case was supervised by Robert A. Cohen, Co-Chief of the Market Abuse Unit. The SEC's litigation is being led by Stephan Schlegelmilch. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

For additional information, see Litigation Release Numbers 23302 and 23391.